


we are only as strong as we are united

by ackerlev



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: All The Teachers Are The Same Though, Carla Lives, Character's Name Spelled as Farlan, Character's Name Spelled as Hanji, Child Isabel Magnolia, Classes, Dark Past, Eren and Levi are the same age, Erwin Has A Stick Up His Ass, Furlan Church - Freeform, Grisha Is Absent, Halfblood Hanji, Hogwarts, Levi Is Clueless About Muggle World, Levi Is Good At Almost Everything, Levi swears like a sailor, M/M, Muggle-born Eren, Pureblood Erwin, Pureblood Levi, Some angst, Tutoring, Wholesome Friendship, bad childhood, daily life, kid Eren, kid levi, pre-harry potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-03-29 14:17:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19021642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ackerlev/pseuds/ackerlev
Summary: Collection of random Hogwarts AU chapters that follow a rough story line through their years at Hogwarts (I'm not creative enough to come up with an entire story so I'm just piecing together certain ideas and headcanons I have for these guys)





	1. Platform 9 3/4

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys,  
> This is my debut fic on AO3 and I hope you enjoy it. I'm not expecting many people will read this fic but if you are deciding to, please leave me some feedback. I'd love your opinions on what is good and what could be improved upon to make this a more enjoyable collection for you guys to read.  
> I do ship Eren x Levi but as I'm starting from their first year at Hogwarts, writing romantic fluff will have to wait until they're a little older so this story (and probably a couple after, if I make them) will just be about their developing friendship and some ups-and-downs associated with that.  
> Additionally, if you have any Hogwarts AU headcanons that you love, please let me know because I might just include it (with credit to you, of course!)
> 
> Anyway, enough with my rambling. I hope you enjoy!  
> ~Ackerlev

The first of September had arrived and it was the start of Levi's first year at Hogwarts. Despite the weather that day being quite humid and warm, a long-sleeved shirt covered the entirety of his pale arms and his legs were enveloped in jeans that, while being rolled up at the ankle, still obscured his legs from view. His choice of apparel made him stand out in a crowd where most people were wearing varied kinds of t-shirts and shorts.

Levi was currently standing between platforms 9 and 10 in King's Cross Station, waiting for the few people in front of him to run at the wall heading to platform 9 3/4. He repeatedly fiddled with the cuffs of his dark, long-sleeved shirt, pulling at it so it hid his wrists from view; a bit of a nervous habit he'd picked up.

To his left, a boy with messy brown hair and big eyes was walking in his direction, however he - and the woman he assumed was the boy's mother - were looking quite lost. Levi knew what that feeling was like, having not been entirely sure where to go when he arrived a few minutes ago. Had Levi not spotted some boys who he recognized were sons of his uncle's business partners and knew they were heading to Hogwarts like him, he would have been just as lost as the other boy looked.

"Ackerman." Fritz's son had greeted Levi in a curtly manner, sneering at him a little. With a nod of his head in acknowledgment, Levi minded his own business.

Levi decides to watch the new boy closely, and overhears the conversation he has with his mother.

"Mom, I'm sure I can find where to go by myself. You don't have to escort me to entire way." The boy insisted to his mother. 

"I know, my dear, but I've never heard of a platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross before. I just don't want you to miss your train." The woman affectionately stroked her son's head, to which he softly hit her hand away before fiddling with his own hair. Levi had to look away in envy as the boy was hugged tightly by his mother in farewell before a kiss was planted on his forehead. Levi heard a startled noise come out of the boy, followed by a whiny exclamation of "Mom!" in embarrassment. Levi couldn't even remember maternal affection he'd received - didn't know if he ever had - and it annoyed him a little that the boy was so unaware of what a gift he had to at least have one parent that loved him.

He was a lot more tanned than Levi - his olive skin tone blending well with his chocolate-brown hair. He hadn't hit his growth spurt yet if the baby-like chubbiness in his face was any indication but then again, Levi hadn't grown either. He looked to Levi to be a Muggle-born, if his shirt - which was a print-tee with some manner of muggle pop culture on it - was any indication. Levi had no idea what the motif on the shirt meant but decided to pass it off as 'weird muggle culture', however the shirt paired well with the boy's gray cargo shorts. It looked like he owned a brown barn owl, if the cage on top of the boy's luggage was any indication, a contrast to Levi's dark grey Eurasian Eagle-Owl. 

Noticing Levi's staring, the boy met Levi's gaze and narrowed his eyes in a challenge, to which Levi rolled his eyes. He heard the boy's indignant huff and looked over to see a slight flush covering the boy's face, likely in frustration. Deciding to help the poor muggle-born boy out of the goodness of his heart (yeah right), he inclined his head in an indication to get the boy to direct his gaze to where the boys were in front of him. Now, only Fritz is left after watching his buddies go through.

The Fritz boy was ready to go now and he braced himself, squared his shoulders, before breaking into a run at the wall, following his trolley as it disappeared through the wall ahead of him. Looking back at the new boy, he had a gobsmacked look on his face as if, even after finding out he can use magic, he still couldn't fathom how someone could disappear through a wall. Levi had to hold back a smirk at the shock and wonder in the boy's face as Levi turned to prepare himself to run at the wall.

While he would have liked to at least asked the boy his name, Levi faced forward and didn't look back as he ran at the wall.


	2. Train Ride

That intimidating, grumpy-looking boy had run through the wall mere seconds ago, leaving Eren in a lost daze. Realizing that, if he wanted to make it to the train before it left without him, he, too, would need to run at the nondescript wall and put his faith in magic (which, until recently, he hadn't even known existed) that he wouldn't make a fool out of himself in front of the many ordinary people that were wandering around the station. 

Taking a deep breath to steel his nerves, his grip tightened around his trolley's handle and he set off towards the wall. Not knowing how fast he needed to be going to make it through the wall, Eren made sure his legs were pumping as fast as they could as he came closer and closer to the ordinary-looking wall. Just as the front end of his trolley reached the wall, he saw the wall around the trolley ripple and his trolley kept going through the wall until Eren himself was forcing himself through. Over in a split second, Eren hadn't noticed any odd feeling from his magical experience.

"First Years this way!" A station guard shouted through a megaphone, standing on a platform so that they were able to be seen above the crowd. 

Eren was relieved that he wouldn't be lost in the crowd and made his way over to where the station guard he just heard was. As he gingerly made his way through the crowd of teenagers, he heard many other station personnel directing different year groups to different sets of carriages.

As Eren reached the group of other kids his age, he couldn't see any sign of that boy from before, which annoyed him a little. He was hoping he could at least learn the boy's name and maybe even befriend him but that wasn't going to happen if he couldn't see him among the kids around him. One of the kids he  _was_ near was a timid-looking blond boy who looking like he was consistently close to tears.

"Are you alright?" Eren asked. The boy's head shot up and he quickly wiped at his eyes a little.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking though." The boy smiled sweetly at Eren, who couldn't help but smile back at the infectious gesture.

"I'm Eren," He held out his hand for the boy to shake. "Eren Jaeger"

"I'm Armin Arlert." Armin shook his hand warmly when his eyes were drawn to Eren's shirt.

"Are you a fan of Death Cab for Cutie?" Armin asked, referring to Eren's tour merch shirt.

"Yeah, I am!" Eren perked up in excitement. "Are you?"

Armin bashfully shook his head, "I don't actually know any of their songs. A few friends of mine from my school like the band too so I recognized the album art." Armin's voice trailed off at the end at the reminder that he wouldn't be among his old friends anymore but as he looked up again, he was reminded that there was a nice boy in front of him that was being friendly to him. Maybe making friends at a magic school wouldn't be as hard as he thought it would be?

"I'm so hungry~" A girl with a brown ponytail and bangs complained.

"Me too, Sash, but we'll be on the train soon and then the lady with the trolley of sweets will come around." The boy next to her with a shaved head explained.

The girl continued whining before grabbing the bald boy in a headlock and claiming, "Your head looks enough like a potato; I bet it's so yummy," The hungry girl started to attack the smaller boy's hairless head with her mouth while the boy shouted in disgust.

The pair's ridiculous actions caused a laugh to burst out of Eren, who had been watching the two when the girl started complaining. Their faces turned toward Eren when they heard his laugh and it causes Eren to get a little embarrassed.

"Sorry, it's just--you guys are funny and I couldn't help it. I'm Eren, by the way and this is Armin,"

"I'm Connie," The small boy said, "And the one gnawing on my head is Sasha. We've been friends since we were little."

As the group were finishing their introductions, they received another directive from one of the station guards:

"Single file, please! No rushing!"

This causes the group of adolescents to start dispersing as people heading to the several carriage doors allocated for the first years.

"Sit with me?" Eren asked Armin, who nodded gratefully at Eren.

"Ooh, us too! We'll all sit together!" Sasha exclaimed, having released her grip on Connie's head and proceeded to high-five him. 

And so they all filed onto the train.

*

After a while sitting still on the train with little to do, Eren decides he needs to go for a walk or he'll go stir crazy with the sound of Sasha and Connie's snores and the scrape of paper against paper as Armin turns the pages of his book.

As Eren wanders, he comes across a pale, dark-haired girl alone in one of the compartments. He debated for a little while whether he wanted to go in and keep her company in an attempt to make her less lonely but he halted in his action when she made eye contact with him through the glass doors. He made his warmest smile appear on his face but she quickly looked away. If Eren looked closely enough, he would have seen a slight pinkish tint to her cheeks as she faced the window, looking outside. Eren took this as a dismissal and, feeling a little disheartened, he continued walking.

As he walked past a certain compartment not too far up from the lonely girl, Eren came across another passenger sitting by themselves, however this was one person he recognized. Seeing the undercut-styled hair, pale skin and sharp eyes, he remembered that this was the face of the boy from before he landed on Platform 9 3/4. Noticing that someone had stopped outside his room, the pale boy looked up from the book he was reading to make eye contact with Eren. The boy's eyes widened slightly in recognition but went back to their normal, bored-looking stare almost immediately. Eren didn't know whether he wanted to disturb the intimidating boy or if he desperately wanted to learn his name and hopefully become friends. After a few seconds of this deliberation, the dark-haired boy's eyebrow raised in a manner that silently asked  _'what do you want?'_. Even though it wasn't a direct invitation to come in, Eren decided that he could get kicked out if he really wasn't wanted.

He pulled open the sliding glass doors and stepped inside, shutting them behind him. Silently and nervously, he sat down on the seat across from the boy who was yet to introduce himself.

"Uh...I'm--I'm Eren. Jaeger. Eren Jaeger." Eren nervously spouted. The boy nodded and went back to his novel without a word.

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?" Eren bravely asked. The pale boy levelled a stare at Eren, as if he was challenging him. Eren narrowed his eyes and stared right back before, finally, the boy sighed, placed the bookmark in his book and set it down beside him on the seat.

"Levi. That's my name. Now you're free to go," Levi said in dismissal. But Eren didn't want to leave just yet.

"How old are you?" Eren blurted out, eager to find out more information about this quiet but intriguing boy.

"Same age as you, moron," Levi replied, his voice never wavering from its bored-sounding tone.

"But when is your birthday?"

"You need to earn that information," Levi rebutted, clearly not happy to divulge information about himself.

"Mine is March 30,"

"I never asked,"

"But now you know it. Does that mean I get an equal amount of information in exchange?" Eren queried.

"Does it? Because you're still not going to get that information. Now, if you don't mind, I should probably start getting my uniform and robes on - as should you. Unless you want a strip show, I'd suggest you leave now." Levi bluntly stated. With a flush rising in his cheeks at what imagery the suggestion left in his innocent mind, Eren flung himself out of Levi's compartment, barely remembering to shut the door. He dared to look back and found that the curtains of the door's glass sections had already been drawn. 

At least Eren finally had a name to attach to that face, a face which he hoped he'd see more often, for reasons unknown to Eren at the time.

As Eren arrived back at his shared compartment, Armin was already in uniform, as was Connie (albeit messily), while Sasha seemed to be sleeping off a food coma after the lady with the sweets trolley had come past, divulging a lot more of her stock than she was anticipating.

"Oh, Eren! I saved you a chocolate frog before Sasha ate everything. I thought you might like to try your first magical food!" Connie exclaimed, lightly chucking the small package at Eren, who managed to catch it.

He gingerly opened the packaging, not knowing what to expect, when he saw the frog. He quickly picked up the chocolate-colored frog and was startled when it started to wriggle like a real frog.

"I don't know if I can eat something so...alive," Eren stated.

"Well, if you don't want it, I'll have it! Plus, you've still got the collector card," Connie grabbed the frog out of Eren's hand before lifting it up to his mouth and biting it in half, before throwing the other half into his mouth too.

Acting upon Connie's words, Eren grabbed the collector card that came as part of his packaging and lifted it up to find a moving picture (which he felt he was never going to get used to) of a middle-aged man with a face smeared with stubble, wearing a well-worn suit and a black cowboy hat.

"'Kenny Ackerman'. I wonder who he is?" Someone important apparently, if he had a collector card made of him.

"I heard he's a wizard who has gotten rid of a lot of the really bad magic-using gangs around London. He's gotten a few awards from the Minister of Magic for his help in making London safer from Dark Wizards. I know because my mom works at the Ministry." Connie explained.

Eren intended to keep the card, wondering who else he might be able to collect. Deciding that he should get dressed but wanted to save Sasha's innocence just in case she woke up while he was half naked, he grabbed all his uniform and headed to the nearest, unoccupied toilet, which ended up being one a short walk away. He successfully threw on his black pants, white button-up shirt and his black school shoes and socks but he could not for the life of him remember how to tie a tie. Deciding that Armin or Connie would know he left the bathroom, carrying his robe and casual clothes and made to head back to his compartment when he was stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder.

He turned and saw that it was the same terrifying boy who teased him with the threat of a strip tease, albeit a boy who was a lot shorter than Eren thought he would be. The top of Levi's head barely reached Eren's nose.

"Need help with your tie?" Levi asked, the most friendly words Eren had ever heard leave his small, terse mouth.

"Y--Yeah, I don't actually know how to tie a tie myself; my mom always helped me," Levi's eyes darkened a little at the mention of Eren's mom, but he led Eren to the side of the walkway so they weren't blocking anyone's path.

"I'll only teach you this once, okay?" Once Eren nodded, Levi grabbed either end of the tie (plain black for now, but not for long once they found out their assigned houses) and adjusted it so that the thicker end fell down over Eren's shoulder further than the thinner side.

"First, you cross this big side over the top of the little side," Levi explained while doing exactly as he said to the tie on Eren's shoulders. "You then loop the same big side around and under the little side, before bringing it up and over, right where your neck is. From your perspective, you then wrap the big side around diagonally right, winding it around so it come up diagonally on your left. It will then go over the top of the center of the tie where this little knot is forming. Are you following this, Eren?" Levi asked. Eren nodded, even if he was having a little bit of trouble keeping up with the never-ending instructions.

"You then wrap it around the front of the knot, going from your left to your right, before wrapping around behind and coming over the top of the knot again. However, this time, you will tuck the fat part of the tie in under the horizontal part of the knot you just made and just tighten it a bit and  _voila_ ," Levi adjusted the tightness of Eren's tie a little before letting go and taking a step back.

"Oh for Christ's sake, I tied your tie better than I tied my own bloody tie," Levi ranted, comparing Eren's tie to his own and huffing when his own tie looked worse - although Eren didn't notice anything different about the two ties. Seeing Levi so annoyed with his tie brought a laugh out of Eren, causing Levi the narrow his eyes at Eren. "This is your fault, you know" He said, pointing his finger at Eren, although there didn't seem to be any real menace behind it.

"Thanks, Levi. I owe you one," He said, affectionately rubbing the top of Levi's head. Levi's eye's narrowed and he suddenly seemed quite menacing, yet Eren - oblivious as he was to Levi's growing ire - continued on his dangerous path. "You know, you're shorter than--"

"I would stop what you're about to say right now or you'll end up at Hogwarts in several pieces," Levi threatened, grabbing Eren's wrist tightly, almost painfully, and pulled Eren's hand off his head. Eren shrunk back a bit from Levi, chuckling sheepishly, before waving and making an escape from a murderous Levi.

It seemed strange and downright perverse but Eren really wanted to get to know Levi more now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say thanks for those who gave this work kudos and those that commented. It made me very happy and I really appreciate it :)  
> If you haven't encountered your favorite character(s) yet, please be patient; they are likely not far away from making an appearance.
> 
> Thanks again for reading,  
> ~Ackerlev


	3. The Sorting Hat

As everyone arrived at the station, the First Years were directed away from all the older students, led by the half-giant called Hagrid towards a docking area that featured dozens of boats (although they looked to be little more than wooden canoes). As the boats could only hold two people, Armin and Eren decided to board a boat together, Sasha and Connie also going together (as expected - the pair were all but inseparable). The boats appeared to lack any masts, sails and oars and the two Muggleborn boys were confused as to how they were expected to ride the boat to Hogwarts with no way to row. Their questions were halted when the boats started to move automatically once all students were in a boat. Eren was mesmerized by the surroundings, the sun setting of to his left casting a warm orange glow onto the sky around the castle in the distance. The castle that had now captured Eren's attention as it neared could only be described as vast and resplendent, the school's campus stretching for great distances all around the castle itself.

Before he even realized, they had docked at another entrance to the castle and were met by a stern-looking older woman who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She then proceeded to lead them through the castle gates and inside the castle, all while sternly explaining some of the key rules at Hogwarts. While walking, Eren noticed to his right that a few boys were pushing Levi every few seconds, while the smaller boy ignored them. Once they reached the stairs before a great set of doors, McGonagall stopped them and proceeded to explain what would happen very shortly.

"You will all file calmly and orderly to the steps leading up to where the other professors, as well as the Headmaster, are seating. There will be a stool on the landing where, once called up, you will sit and be sorted. You are then required to go and sit at your house's table with your fellow housemembers who you will be with for the rest of your schooling here. Any questions?" When no one asked anything of Professor McGonagall, she turned to lead them into the Great Hall. 

After she turned her back, however, the boys tormenting Levi decided to strike again, instead grabbing his wrist this time. With a flash of emotion across his face, Levi flung his arm out of their grip (which was done easily as the boys were not expecting it) and proceeded to elbow the one who grabbed him in the gut, causing the boy to bend over with the strength of the blow. Levi's eyes were wide and flickered with an emotion that Eren didn't quite understand but Levi quickly collected himself and rearranged to cuff of his sleeve.

However, McGonagall heard the bully's gasp of pain from his blow to the stomach and saw Levi's action, and proceeded to say, "Mr Ackerman, I'll see you in my office at your earliest convenience." While sounded quite serious, to Eren she didn't sound entirely cross with Levi, perhaps knowing that Levi was a victim, but Eren still could not handle Levi being the only one called out.

"P--Professor McGonagall!" Eren called, receiving the professor's stare. When Eren looked towards Levi, however, the pale boy merely shook his head at Eren, urging him to not do something reckless to get himself into unnecessary trouble. Eren eyes dropped at the gesture, dejectedly saying, "Nevermind."

Although Eren didn't see it, the professor's gaze softened slightly at Eren's attempt to protect his friend. However, there were snickers from the tormentors, to which the professor said, "There will be silence from all of you when we enter," with a pointed look in the direction of Levi's bullies.

* 

Once the First Years were gathered at the base of the small set of stairs in front of all the professors, Eren decided that he would go stand beside Levi. He knew Levi didn't need the moral support but Eren felt protective of the pale, skinny boy. However, not wanting to abandon Armin either, Eren decided he'd reach around a couple of people and tug on the shoulder of Levi's robe. With a scathing glare that Eren assumed was meant for the tormentors that Levi was expecting, Eren gestured with his head for Levi to come stand beside him. With a pause, Levi shrugged and made his way to stand beside Eren, the brunet giving him a warm smile.

When Eren laid eyes on the aforementioned stool and noticed a worn and weathered wizard hat, he is a little confused. Seeing Eren's confusion, Levi whispered to him, ' _just wait_ '. 

McGonagall pulled out a scroll featuring the names of all the First Years and called them forward in alphabetical order.

"Levi Ackerman," was the first name she said. Without a glance at Eren, Levi walked up to stool, which was currently unoccupied as McGonagall was holding the sorting hat. After the hat was placed on Levi's head, he grimaced at the amount of dust and grime that could be on the hat and knew he'd desperately need a shower once they got situated in their dormitories.

After little deliberation, 'Slytherin!' was announced from the hat. With a few cheers and applause from the rest of Slytherin House, Levi had the disgusting hat pulled off his head and he made his way towards his new house. On his way there, he looked towards Eren to see a surprised look on his face at the talking hat. Holding back a laugh, he continued on towards the Slytherin table, where they made room for him near the end of the table.

The next person called up was the girl he saw on the train, who he finds out is called 'Mikasa'. She was promptly put in Gryffindor and didn't seem neither pleased nor disappointed with the result. Her lack of emotion displayed reminded Eren of another pale, dark-haired person he knew. 

Armin was called up next and the boy looked terrified. He made his way up nervously and jumped when the hat started to talk to him, although Eren couldn't hear what it was saying until it shouted, "Ravenclaw!". The volume at which it shouted made Armin jump, but he looked pleased with the hat's decision and made his way to his house with a big smile on his face.

A big guy called Reiner is put in Gryffindor and Sasha is happily placed with Hufflepuff, the girl happy with the decision and excited that the house's dormitory is so close to the kitchens. The tallest boy of the group, Bertoldt, is put in Hufflepuff, and then it's Eren's turn.

"Eren Jaeger." At the sound of his name, he make his way up the steps. However, at the last step, he stumbles a little and hears a couple of laughs from the remaining group of First Years. He turns to glare at them, notices that it's a couple of boys from the group that seem to enjoy tormenting Levi and it seems the Eren has become a target too. With an embarrassed flush rising in his face, he sat down on the stool, receiving a solitary and supportive pat on the shoulder from McGonagall before she placed the hat on Eren's head.

"Ah, you're an interesting one aren't you?" Eren cringed at the hat's distinctly creepy voice in his head. "You would not be out of place in Gryffindor with that courage of yours, yet you have the ambition of a Slytherin." The Sorting Hat continued with it's statements and rhetorical questions for a while longer, long enough for Eren to start to feel awkward in front of the entire hall of witches and wizards with the gazes on him waiting for him to be sorted. There started to be whispers amongst many of the students as the hat still hadn't decided.

"Tell me, boy, which house appeals to you more?" The Sorting Hat asked, requiring a question for the first time in his tirade.

If Eren was honest with himself, Gryffindor didn't appeal to him if none of his friends would be there with him. Be it a selfish, trivial decision or not, he decided that he would prefer Slytherin where Levi is, than a house where he has neither Levi nor Armin, or even Sasha (and possibly Connie, depending on where he is placed).

Since the Sorting Hat was aware of his thought process and what he had internally decided, Eren didn't need to vocalize his choice before the hat shouted, "Slytherin!"

After the long wait, Eren was ready to get off the stool and out of the attention of the crowd, but as he walked past older students sitting at the tables, he heard them call him a 'Hatstall'. Even though he was confused by the term - not knowing if it was an insult or not - he made it to the Slytherin table as a boy called Jean was being sorted.

He spotted Levi, the small boy watching him closely as if he wasn't sure if Eren would sit with him or not (not that the boy would admit that his decision would bother him if he sat with someone else). Eren smiled brightly and  _did_ sit down with Levi - to the boy's undeniable relief.

"Hey Levi, what's a Hatstall?" Eren asked of the term he heard them use before. Levi looked confused but before he could say as much, a blond boy with piercing blue eyes and thick eyebrows answered for him.

"A Hatstall is when the Sorting Hat has trouble deciding which house someone will go in and I'd say you had a True Hatstall, not just an near Hatstall, like lots of people are saying. It makes you a very special boy, Eren, as it only happens usually every fifty years," The older boy smiled at him. "Sorry, I'm Erwin - a fifth year - and thought since your friend Levi wasn't sure, that I would help alleviate your worries. You were worried that it was a bad thing, right?"

"Yeah, I was but I'm not anymore so thanks, Erwin. How long did it take for me to be sorted, anyway?"

"Five minutes, Eren. It's almost as long as Professor McGonagall and she, too, was a True Hatstall," Erwin said.

While Eren was talking with Erwin, the Jean boy was placed in Gryffindor, and a girl with a sharp glare called Annie joined Slytherin, while a cute girl called Christa, as well as Connie, joined Hufflepuff, which Sasha was tremendously excited for. However, Eren now noticed that a lot of the boys that were tormenting Levi were also in Slytherin. Eren glared down the table at them, which resulted in Levi slapping him lightly on the arm in a reprimand.

"Stop it. Honestly, it's like you're little more than my guard dog," 

Eren gave Levi puppy-dog eyes in response, to which the sharp-tongued boy punched Eren in the arm, hard enough for Eren to lose feeling in it for a moment. Eren starts to whine at Levi to annoy him but Levi narrows his eyes and proceeds to ignore the attempts. However, Eren is stopped when the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, makes his way to the decadent podium. As he began his speech, Eren started to doze off, the long train ride catching up to him. With a quick pinch from Levi, Eren startles awake and glares lightly at Levi, who whispers, "The food will be here in a second if you want to keep your shitty eyes open."

Sure enough, just as Levi finished saying that, Dumbledore wrapped up his messages and his welcome, concluding with, "Let the feast begin."


	4. A New Home

“Hey Levi, how do they know where to send our bags?”

Levi looked at Eren with a deadpan look on his face and plainly said, “Magic, duh.”

Eren nudges Levi's shoulder with his upper arm, exasperated and unimpressed by the answer.

"As long as you get your luggage, does it really matter what spell, house elf or mountain troll gets your luggage to your room?" Levi said. Eren reluctantly agrees at the mention of trolls that maybe it's best that he doesn't know.

They continue to follow their prefects down a narrow corridor, heading down and down, deeper into the castle depths. 

"Look at  _Erwin_ , walking with that giant stick up his ass, treating this like it's a fucking nature tour," Levi whispers in annoyance, mocking the prefect's name. Eren tries to keep his laughs contained as Erwin continues to point out directions towards classrooms and who the person in a certain portrait is. "And on the left is the bathroom where you can go to take a giant shit after eating your fill at all of the fiber-rich feasts." Levi further mocked Erwin with his usual vulgarity. Eren was turning red in an attempt to stop himself from bursting into laughter and disrupting Erwin riveting tour of the dungeons.

The temperature started to dip in the dungeons, prompting goosebumps to rise on Eren's skin, while Levi started wrapping his own arms around his body to preserve warmth. Suddenly, they stopped moving and Erwin directed them towards where the entrance to their common room is. "Everyone, this is the entrance to your common room. It requires a password for the door to open and the password changes fortnightly. Each new password will be posted on the noticeboard inside the common room the day before the password will change, which should be enough time for you to learn it and remember it. I don't care what the other houses do but be warned that you must not bring someone from another house into the Slytherin common room, nor can you tell members of another house our password to allow them to gain entry. Doing either will result in punishment and damnation from your peers." Erwin's eyes glowed with intensity as he concluded his explanation. Eren was slightly disappointed that he wouldn't be able to invite Armin, Connie or Sasha to hang out with him in the common room, but they could spend time with each other elsewhere. He would be able to spend plenty of time with Levi though, which brightened Eren's mood somewhat.

"Attention!" Erwin silenced all the chattering students with an authoritative, booming command reminiscent of a military commander. "The password for the next two weeks is 'Pure-Blood'." Erwin continued to talk about other information regarding the use of the common room but Eren could only focus on the snickers and sneering looks from many of the Slytherin kids, with one even saying, "Oh, looks like we'll need to change the password already since a _Mudblood_ can't use a password like that," which brought laughs from the kid's peers.

Eren looked at his feet while the kids around him all laughed at him. He felt a tug on his sleeve and Levi pulled him down by the arm to whisper in his ear, "Don't listen to what these dickwads are saying. Most of them probably couldn't even wipe their own asses until they were adolescents. The Sorting Hat put you here so this is where you belong." Levi's attempt at cheering him up brought a small smile onto Eren's face, but then Levi added something else. " And if you ever  _do_ feel like you don't belong, you always have me." Eren looked over at Levi, who was looking away, a slight pink tinge to his ears. Eren grabbed Levi shoulder and squeezed it lightly in appreciation, smiling a lot more now.

Erwin proceeded to use the password he'd just told them to open the common room door, and they all filed inside. The large expanse had a very medieval dungeon look to it with stone floors and walls, however both were covered with decor that made the place feel a little more homey. Tapestries lined the walls, along with some portraits of important Slytherins, one person looking like the man in Eren chocolate frog card. There was a giant rug across the floor, on top of which sat plush-looking, dark green sofas. All were right near a fireplace which kept that area of the room quite toasty while other areas were quite cold. Above the mantle of the fireplace was a portrait of the house's animal - a snake. The snake in the picture even moved from time to time, which greatly unnerved Eren. Lamps were scattered about on the walls, where they cast a green-ish colored light around the room. What intrigued Eren the most, though, was the view into the Great Lake, where he could see all kinds of sea creature swimming about. 

While the older Slytherin students headed in the direction of their dorms without direction, Erwin was ready to point the first years in the right direction, directing the girls to the left and the boys to the right, warning that anyone that tried to go into the other gender's dorms would be 'forcefully ejected'. While not knowing what exactly that entailed, Eren and Levi both knew that it would not be nice. The boys both knew that they wanted to share a room but finding out that each room housed four people meant that they had to share with two people they didn't know and given their experience of Hogwarts until know, the boys they were going to be sharing with were probably not going to be very friendly. Sure enough, when they walked into one of the various rooms they'd been directed to, the two boys looked at them and, after seeing Eren, looked at each other, snickered, and looked back at Levi and Eren.

"Hey, Ackerman, you should know that hanging around Mudbloods isn't good for your reputation." One of them goaded. Levi quickly left Eren's side and stormed up to the two boys, stopping right in front of their faces. They jumped back a little in fear as Levi told them in a low and very intimidating tone, "If you ever say that again, or if you ever do anything to Eren or to me, I will shove your wands so far up your own asses that you'll be vomiting charms. And I kid you not, if you ever hurt Eren, I will cast so many fucking curses on you that He Who Must Not Be Named would be wholly fucking impressed. Got it?" At a nod from both of them, Levi turned and went to leave.

"Levi, where are you going?" Eren looked very confused and a little concerned, likely about what exactly Levi said to the two boys to have them close to shitting themselves and also as to where Levi needed to go, right now.

"McGonagall wanted to see me, remember?" Levi's response was curt, still tense from verbally ripping into the two dickheads in his dorm

"Oh, right. Well, good luck." Eren was a little jaded by Levi's mood change from earlier but didn't know what to do so he turned to the bed he decided would be his for the semester and found his luggage already waiting beside his bed. While both shocked and amazed, Eren ignored the part of his brain trying to figure out how it was done as set to unpacking his luggage.

 

In McGonagall's office, Levi had prepared to get a serious scolding but the stern woman merely gave him a warning. "Mr Ackerman, I know how your family operates and just know that I will not tolerate any violence at this school. I know you were provoked but I want you to remember that you have someone that supports you. Stick with him and he'll help you as much as you will help him as you both will certainly encounter difficulties like you already have in the coming years while you are here." McGonagall's all-seeing eyes darted down to Levi's wrists and back up to his face. "It's getting late so I won't keep you any longer but make sure you see Madam Pomfrey in the morning for those."

Levi flushes red, tugs on the already-pulled-down sleeves of his shirt, and quickly leaves to head back to the dorm and to Eren's calming presence.

 

The door to his room slammed open and made Eren, as well as the other two boys (whose named he'd overheard were Flegel and Fritz - who went by his last name) jump. Eren sat his comic book down on his bed as Levi stormed in. Despite being near Eren again, the sight of the two other boys intensified Levi already angry mood.

"Levi, are you alright? Did Professor McGonagall--"

"It's none of your business! You don't need to know every fucking thing that goes on in my life!" Levi snapped, flipping the clasps on his suitcases open. At the sight of Levi's anger, Flegel and Fritz decided to find somewhere else to be in case Levi decided to follow through with his threat from earlier in any way.

Eren looked with wide eyes at Levi's seething form before his eyes filled with tears. He turned on his side, facing away from Levi and picked up his comic, even though he was too upset to actually read it. Levi grabbed a cloth from his suitcase and quickly wiped down the already clean bedside table and the posts and headboard of his bed. He sorted his clothing and hung them up neatly in his wardrobe before placing his item in his trunk in an orderly manner.

The impromptu, brief cleaning and organizing calmed Levi somewhat and when he turned to look at Eren and the boy's sniffling, slightly shaking form, guilt rushed into Levi. However, being a socially awkward boy, Levi didn't know the first thing about apologizing to Eren, but he knew that he couldn't stand having Eren be this sad because of something Levi said. Levi did remember how his mother used to comfort him when he was sad; when she would sit beside him and stroke his hair, whispering things to comfort him. Deciding it was better than nothing, Levi walking the couple of steps to Eren's bed and sat down on the empty side. Despite stiffening up, Eren didn't move to acknowledge Levi's presence. Moving onto the next phase, Levi cautiously reached his hand towards Eren's hair, hesitating slightly before resting his hand on Eren's head, feeling the soft hairs tickling his palm. Levi wasn't really prepared, though, for when Eren's head moved so that the bright-eyed boy could look at him in confusion and a bit of irritation. As the boy opened his mouth to say something, Levi firmly told him, "Shut up for a second, Eren and just listen." Despite being miffed at the way Levi talked to him, Eren laid his head back down and prepared to listen.

"Well, first and foremost, I guess I need to apologize to you, Eren, so...I'm sorry? No, wait, that wasn't supposed to sound like a question. I  _am_ sorry, Eren. I was angry at those two asshats giving you shit for something you can't help and then McGonagall was prying and I was just really pissed off. I know you were only concerned for me and thanks, Eren. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. You were wondering if I was okay and I just yelled at you and I'm really sorry, Eren. I don't think I'm doing this friendship thing very well so far but just bear with me. I haven't been able to have a friend before because my family is pretty damn fucked up and I'm also really shit at talking to people when I'm not threatening them but my mom used to do this kind of thing to me when she was still alive so I thought it might work and just know that if I ever accidentally snap at you again, I don't hate you and I don't mean any of the mean things I say to you. So...yeah. I think that's it. Jesus fucking Christ, I don't think I've said that many words in a row ever so congratulations, Eren. You can make the socially awkward guy talk up a fucking storm." Levi didn't even notice until the end of his tirade but as he'd been talking, his hand had subconsciously started stroking Eren's hair. Upon realizing it though, Levi suddenly stopped and quickly took his hand off Eren's head and awkwardly sat with his hands in his lap. To his surprise, however, Eren quickly rolled over and wrapped his arms around Levi's thin waist and says into Levi's side, "Please don't leave me alone,".

Levi patted Eren's back and simply said, "Never."

Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Levi laid awake, as he did most night due to insomnia, but he got a bit of a fright when he heard Eren whisper, "Levi, are you awake?"

His eyes having adjusted to the darkness, Levi looked over and could see Eren's shape and saw that the boy was turned toward him. "Yeah, why?"

"I can't sleep." Eren admitted a bit sheepishly.

"Shitty brat..." Levi cursed with no menace, "You're probably homesick. Just think of something nice or count sheep or something,"

There was a pause and Levi thought that Eren had taken his advice when he heard Eren's amused whisper, "Hey Levi, can you stroke my hair again?"

Thankfully for Levi, the darkness meant that Eren couldn't see the aggressive blush that Levi had all over his face.

"N-No, you brat." Levi stuttered, internally cursing himself for making his embarrassment so obvious.

"Levi, are you super embarrassed right now?"

"Shut up."

"Also, why am I a brat? We're basically the same age."

"Go to sleep, Eren." 

"Okay. Good night, Levi,"

"...Good night, Eren."

Within a few minutes, Levi heard little snores coming from Eren's direction and he focused his attention on the roof of their room, waiting to see if he would end up getting any sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the month-long absence, guys. I've been dealing with some mental health issues and learning how to manage it and that was sapping my enthusiasm for writing this fic, but I'm hoping I'm over the worst of that. I don't know how often my updates will be but just know that I'm not going to abandon this story; there just might be a couple of longer breaks between chapters. Also, the swearing has a drastic increase in this chapter so I hope you didn't mind.  
> Anyway, thanks for continuing to read. Hope you enjoy this chapter.  
> ~ackerlev


	5. 'Mini Snape' and the Dreaded Potions Class

Eren and Levi have quite similar class schedules including Potion

"So, Eren, not only do I have to deal with your annoying ass every night before I go to sleep but now I have almost every class with you? What kind of fucked up thing did I do in a past life to deserve this?" Levi droned, egging Eren on.

"Are you sure it isn't incredible luck you have, getting to see my face almost 24/7?" Eren smiled cheekily at Levi, who rolled his eyes lazily.

Entering the Potions Room, the creepy ambiance reminded Eren of the Common Room. While Eren enjoyed going to Charms class and learning to hone his wand-wielding and spell-casting skills, he was dreading Potions class. While Eren had only seen his Head of House and Potions teacher from a distance, the man's consistent frown and disapproving glare wracked Eren's nerves. Having to sit in front of the terrifying man and endure his wrath for an hour seemed unbearable. Levi, however, knew that no one could make him suffer or torment him as much as his uncle so the scathing glare of the teacher meant nothing to him.

Once inside the classroom and sitting in front of their cauldrons, Professor Snape stood beside the blackboard at the far end of the room, behind a desk that had a great many books on it. Eren fidgeted nervously in his seat while Levi absentmindedly flicked through the pages of his textbook. Soon enough though, other students filed into the classroom, including Armin.

"Eren!" Armin's face brightened when he spotted Eren, quickly walking over to the empty chair on Eren's other side. "I'm so glad I have a class with you. We'll have to work out somewhere to meet up so that we can hang out sometime."

"Definitely!" Eren was happy to have a distraction from the terrifying teacher. However, his attention was torn away from his conversation with Armin when he heard a group of students walk in, whispering about the 'mini Snape' sitting next to him. Eren looked at Levi to see he was ignoring the comments, even if his mouth was now downturned in irritation. Before Eren could say anything to Levi, Snape began the lesson.

While Snape was droning on about the unrealistic expectations he had of this classroom of eleven-year-olds, Eren leaned in towards Levi, whispering, "You know, they have a point. It's like Snape got younger, shrunk, and decided to sit next to me in class," A shit-eating grin spread across Eren's face as Levi turned towards him and pinned him with a glare that, to anyone else, would have been menacing and terrifying.

"Jaeger. Care to share with the class your knowledge of the components of an Antidote to Common Poisons is?" The deep, monotone voice startled Eren, wiping the grin off his face. Slowly making eye contact with the professor, Eren replied,

"Sorry, Professor. I don't know." Hand clenched in his lap, Eren focused his gaze down at his hands instead of at the glare of his teacher or the sneers of some of his peers.

"Of course not. It would be imperative that you listen lest you expire from an easily curable poison."

A whisper came from Eren's left: "You deserved that, you prick,"

"Ackerman. Is it so difficult for you and Jaeger to sit in silence and listen?" Snape's voice had slightly grown in volume as he grew more annoyed with the pair. "While I'm aware of the comparisons between the two of us, you will never reach the level of expertise required for an adequate comparison if you do not pay attention. Congratulations, the two of you now have a detention." Levi gave Eren a very unimpressed look, to which Eren rolled his eyes.

After the realization that Snape apparently has exceptional hearing, the pair sat and worked in silence - not wanting their punishment to increase. The class dragged on but when it finally concluded, before the two of them could leave, Snape ordered them to stay. With a dejected farewell to Armin, Levi and Eren made their way up to Snape's desk to receive their punishment.

"Instead of going to eat lunch, you two will clean the classroom top to bottom. If I come back and it is not done, or if the two of you decide to amuse yourselves by breaking or stealing anything," Snape glared intensely at Levi as he said the previous. "You will receive a punishment so severe that not even the Headmaster will save you." With that, he strode out of the room, robe billowing behind him.

"Jesus Christ, Eren. Because of you, we couldn't even make it through our first day of classes without getting in trouble." Levi was pacing angrily, his fists clenched.

" _My_ fault? You didn't have to whisper your little comment but you did, so get off your high horse because the blame is on both of us." Eren was riled up by Levi's remark, resulting in him raising his voice at Levi.

"Alright, fine. Let's just get on with this so we can eat," Levi just didn't feel like fighting, especially not with Eren and especially not about something so petty.

The two set took their robes off and set them with their books. Eren set out to wipe the benches down with one of the cloths that Snape left them, while Levi went and started wiping down the many shelves. Always prepared, Levi had a couple of handkerchiefs, one which he tied around his face to cover his nose and mouth, the other he tied around his hairline to cover most of his hair. When Eren gave him a curious look, Levi explained that he wasn't going to get sick from the dust that covered the shelves. Shrugging in acceptance, Eren started wiping.

The benches didn't take long to clean so Eren started brushing dirt off the floor with a broom. Once he finished those two tasks, he went over to help Levi with the massive task of cleaning the dust, dirt and grime off all the shelves around the classroom. However, the two quickly ran into a problem when, after cleaning all the shelves they could reach, they couldn't find a ladder anywhere. Knowing that they needed to do all the shelves or else Snape would bring his fiery wrath down on them, the boys were stuck.

"Wait, Levi! What if you climbed on my shoulders? You could reach the high shelves if we did that." Eren had a proverbial 'lightbulb' moment, however Levi was not impressed.

"Climb on your shoulders? I don't think so, brat. I'd rather not fall five feet and seven-ish inches into a concussion."

"It's fine! I helped my parents with yard work all the time."

"So pulling weeds is supposed to translate to you being able to carry me on your shoulders? These must have been some titan-sized weeds," Came Levi's snarky reply.

"Shut up. What other option do we have? It's not like Snape would be happy if we left and said, 'Sorry, couldn't reach the upper shelves so we left them for you'."

After some deliberation, Levi acquiesced. "Alright, crouch down so I can get my legs on your shoulders."

"Are you sure you can? You might need to get a stepping stool--Ow!" Levi pinched Eren's ear at his snide comment.

Facing the bench, Eren crouched down while Levi, holding onto the bench in front of them, slid one leg over Eren's shoulder. After shimmying a bit to get himself situated and secure, he gripped the bench hard and threw his other leg onto Eren's shoulder.

"Alright, lift me up." Levi's voice was tight, forced. When Eren looked at how white Levi's fingers were going given his bone-shattering grip on the edge of the bench, he realized that this scared Levi a bit. Not wanting to panic him more, Eren slowly straightened his legs, noticing how his knees and lower back barked at the strain, using the bench to help pull himself up. It was this moment that Eren realized that size can be deceiving because Levi was surprisingly heavy for someone of his size, not that Eren was game to say something at the moment.

Once Eren reached a point where Levi could no longer hold the bench as well, Levi assumed a death grip around Eren's head. Eren gently eased Levi's arms from around his face, allowing him to breathe properly again, and directed Levi's hands to be around his forehead or in his hair, away from his eyes, nose and mouth.

"Doing okay, Levi?" Eren asked tentatively.

"Yes." Came the quick reply. "Let's get this done already."

Eren carefully walked toward the first shelf so that they could resume their cleaning. At first, Levi tentatively reached for the shelf but, after feeling Eren's secure hold on his thighs and the fact that he hadn't fallen yet, his movements started to get faster until he was wiping at a normal speed.

Once the pair had finished, Eren slowly crouched down, feeling his knees greatly protest the action, until Levi could climb off. Once Levi was off him, however, he flopped on the ground just from the lack of weight on his body anymore.

"Oi, get off the floor. It's probably still fucking filthy." Levi lightly kicked Eren in the side.

"But you were so heavy, Levi!" Eren whined. In response to the comment, Levi kicked Eren harder. "Alright, alright. I'm getting up." Eren clutched his side, exaggerating his pain, but quickly gave up when he realized how few shits Levi gave about him.

"Quick, let's go see if we can grab some lunch before it ends!" Eren grabbed Levi's arm, not noticing the slight wince of pain, and tugged him out the door. However, just as they're leaving, the bell rings for the end of lunch, deflating the boys' spirits.

"You and your fucking mouth, Eren,"


	6. Guess What? More Classes!

Levi and Eren walked side-by-side from the castle down onto the Training Grounds for their very first Flying lesson. A broom was laid out on the ground for every person, not looking magical at all to Eren.

The Slytherin students were forced into a joined Flying class with Gryffindor; whoever thought that putting rival houses in a potentially dangerous lesson together had something wrong with their head.

While Levi looked at ease (although Eren wasn't too sure since he wasn't an expert on reading Levi's emotions - or lack thereof - quite yet), Eren was, to put it mildly, shitting himself. He was terrified of humiliating himself in front of his peers who already loved to ridicule him and a part of him also didn't want Levi to be embarrassed of being friends with a loser that couldn't handle a magical broom.

The instructor of the class, Madam Hooch, introduced herself once everyone had assigned themselves to a broom. The first step she wanted the class to do was to simply summon the broom to their hand by calling for it.

"Up." Levi ordered in an authoritative tone. Although he didn't shout it like a lot of other kids were doing, the broom obeyed his firm command, willingly flinging itself up into his grip.

"Well done, Mr Ackerman," praised Hooch, a genuinely pleased look on her normally stern features.

Eren made his attempt but his broom didn't even twitch. He tried to enunciate clearer, which made no difference. After ten attempts with no success, Eren was started to get really annoyed with this stick of wood. Noticing that Levi was watching him fail, Eren felt embarrassed but he turned to his friend in desperation.

"Just keep trying, Eren. You're not the only one who hasn't done it yet." Levi's comment didn't help Eren at all.

"Well, what did you do, Mr Perfect?" Eren was being a bit petty, but Levi decided to throw him a bone and give some advice.

"Speak clearly and firmly. That's what I did." Levi's apathy peeved Eren a bit, but he knew that the other boy was genuinely trying to help him; he just wasn't very good at it.

Eren kept trying, over and over, until after about twenty more failed attempts, he forced his anger and frustration into his command and yelled, "Up!". Finally, after so much exasperation, the broom finally lifted off the ground towards Eren's hand. But Eren, who after so many failed attempts, was not expecting anything different and almost missed grabbing his broom.

Hearing a snicker that wasn't coming from Levi, he looked up to see a long-faced, two-tone-haired Gryffindor smirking at him. Eren did notice that the girl beside him, the one he saw on the train who he now knew was called Mikasa, gave him a small, apologetic smile at her peer's pathetic behavior.

Soon after, Hooch proceeded to split to class into the stragglers who still couldn't raise their broom and the ones who had managed to succeed. However the next task involved relying on the broom to hold oneself above the ground (less than a meter but still high enough for Eren to start panicking a little).

Since Levi had easily commanded his broom to rise to his hand, Hooch decided to use him as an example.

"Mr Ackerman, if you would be so kind, I would ask you to demonstrate to your peers what I am about to tell you. Now, with your broom in hand, turn it so it is parallel to the ground and lift one leg over the broom so that the broom is floating in between your thighs," Levi was then directed by Hooch to do as she just explained while to rest of the group watched him. "You must never let go of the broom while you are on it, at least not at this level of learning. Now, Mr Ackerman, please sit down on the broom and fold your legs up off the ground so that you will be hovering," Levi did as Hooch said and gracefully sat on his broom and hovered above the ground. "Excellent work, Mr Ackerman! Now, don't try to fly anywhere just yet as that will be for another lesson."

Hooch then directed the rest of the group to attempt it but Eren was reluctant to put his faith in a glorified cleaning instrument. He had positioned the broom correctly and had even sat down, but he was too terrified to lift his feet off the ground.

"Levi, what if I start flying away and don't know how to land?"

"That won't happen, Eren. Focus on staying right where you are." Levi offered helpful encouragement, allaying some of Eren's fears.

Eren cautiously raised his lower legs off the ground but at the foreign feeling of floating in the air, Eren quickly put his feet back down.

"Come on, Mr Jaeger. You do not have to worry about injuring yourself as you are barely off the ground. Now quickly, before the lesson is over, I want you to hover." Hooch prompted. 

Intimidated, Eren acquiesced and lifted his legs once more, denying his body's instinct to put his feet back down. After a few long seconds of hovering and realizing that he wasn't flying up into the atmosphere, Eren slowly exhaled in relief.

"Well done." Hooch praised in her almost monotone voice.

Eren made the mistake of looking forward to find that 'Horse-face' - as he was known in Eren's head since he didn't know the boy's name - still had a snide grin on his annoying face. Eren quickly gave the boy a one-finger acknowledgment, for which Hooch saw and gave him an admonishing glare.

While Eren had since put his feet back on solid ground, Levi was still hovering, looking more at ease that Eren had ever seen him; an almost serene look on his face. However, before he look any closer at Levi, Hooch called an end to the lesson, dismissing the students who then started to head back towards the castle for their next class.

Eren started walking back with Levi when the smaller boy was stopped by Hooch, who wanted a word with him. With a nod from Levi, Eren continued towards the castle, but decided to stop and wait for Levi. While he was too far away to hear much of the conversation, he did hear words like  _natural_ , _potential_ and _Quidditch._  Eren had only recently learned what Quidditch was and, given the stress that Flying lesson gave him, he knew that Quidditch was not for him, but Levi, who had aced everything Hooch told him to do and did it so naturally, even though he'd told Eren earlier that he'd never flown on a broom before, could definitely play Quidditch. If only they offered it to First-Years, because Eren thought it would be really cool to watch Levi play. Maybe next year.

"Come on, dingus. Let's go," Off in his own world, Eren didn't realize Levi had finished his conversation and had caught up to him. 

"I'm not a dingus, you ass!"

-

"I honestly don't understand why this bullshit is a compulsory class," Levi commented on their way to their next class - Herbology. "Why the fuck do we need to learn about dirt?"

"We're not learning about  _dirt_ , Levi. We're learning about plants and their uses in potions and poisons," Eren exasperatedly explained to a pissed-off Levi.

Eren's mom has a vegetable garden at home and the boy always enjoyed helping his mom with the gardening. They even planted an aloe plant for when Eren spends too much time outside during the holidays and inevitably gets a sunburn. He hoped that Herbology class would be interesting and that he might even be able to teach his mom about some special plants.

The short, rotund teacher of Herbology, Professor Sprout, commenced the lesson, announcing that they would be learning about Asphodel. Each student in the greenhouse and a potted plant in front of them. With its pretty, white flower and long, slender leaves, Eren already liked it.

"Now, Asphodel, which is also sometimes called Royal Staff, is native to Europe. In Ancient Greek times, the flower was associated with death and the underworld given that they believed it had ties to Persephone, goddess of the spring and queen of the underworld," During the Professor's rambling, Levi chose not to listen, still peeved about having to endure a class where dirt was  _literally_ everywhere. They were in a greenhouse, for fucks sake. However, he noticed that Eren was captivated with the Professor's lecture.

Once Professor Sprout had finished her oration on the origins of the plant in front of them, they were encouraged to interact with the plant before them. Levi very quickly refused while Eren leaned in, delicately examining the entirety of the plant.

"Come on, Levi. You have gloves you can put on if you really don't want to touch it," Eren tried coaxing Levi into participating, but the cleanliness-obsessed boy was having nothing to do with it. He proceeded to stand there, arms crossed, mouth turned down and nose scrunched up. "Stop being so stubborn, Levi. It's a core subject so you'll be having to touch plants a lot in the next five years or so."

Eren was getting annoyed with Levi's behavior, but was a bit proud when Levi decided to suck it up, put on his gloves and touch the plant; his touches never lasted more than a second, but it was a start.

"Who can tell me the uses of Asphodel?" Sprout asked after giving the students plenty of time to examine the plant.

"Powdered root of Asphodel is used in potions such as the Draught of the Living Death and the Wiggenweld Potion," Levi looked to Eren in surprise, not knowing that the boy was well-versed in potion ingredients.

"Excellent, Mr Jaeger. That is exactly right!" Sprout enthusiastically praised Eren, while Levi was still gobsmacked on where he learned that.

Eren leaned down slightly and whispered, "After we pissed off Snape before, I hoped I could get on his good side a little if I read ahead in the textbook and studied some of the potions." Levi nodded, now understanding how the fuck Eren seemed like a genius.

The rest of the lesson passed by pretty quickly - not quick enough for Levi, though - and the boys headed back towards the common room to drop off their books before heading to lunch.

"You know, I'd like a flower as pretty as that to be planted at my grave," Eren admitted.

Levi, however, was a little uncomfortable with the morbid subject of death, having dealt with it enough in his life. So, the boy just nodded. Having picked up on a slight mood change in Levi, Eren realized his little topic-related faux-pas when his friend had clearly seen some bad stuff in his life, from what Eren had gathered given what Levi had shared with him so far.

"But don't worry, Levi! I'll be around to be a pain in your ass a lot longer, I'm afraid,"

"Great..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys/gals/people,  
> I know that the last chapter was pretty shit so I'm making it up to you guys by doing a double update today/tonight.  
> I also realized that this friendship stuff is dragging on and while I don't really want this story to be a slow burn, I need to establish some details in their relationship and introduce some characters first (I know that Hanji hasn't shown up yet but they will soon)  
> So, I will be adding in some timeskips soon but for the next few chapters, it's still pretty slow so please be patient, my lovely readers.
> 
> But, anyway, happy reading  
> ~ackerlev


	7. Christmas Break

"Are you sure that you want to stay here for Christmas?" Eren asked as he finished packing his bag up to head home for the Christmas break. He was eager to see his mom again, but also knew that he'd miss Levi's shitty brand of humor while he was home.

"Yeah. It's better than the alternative since Kenny is probably in the middle of a few important 'business' deals," Levi replied, his words implying the quotation marks that he didn't physically do.

"Kenny? Like Kenny Ackerman?" Eren asked, remembering his chocolate frog card from months ago.

"Yeah, that's my last name, isn't it? He's my uncle, although he's a shitty one at best." Levi was confused as to where this was going, until Eren rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a card from the chocolate frog treats.

Eren turned the card so it faced Levi so the boy could read the name, "No fucking way. I had no idea he ever did this kind of thing. Probably some marketing ploy but what are the fucking chances of you getting a card with my uncle? I'll be damned," While Levi was intrigued, he wasn't particularly happy either, quickly giving Eren the card back.

"Is he why you're staying here?" Eren asked, his voice quiet at the hint that he was heading towards sensitive subject matter.

"He definitely is. The less time I spend around that bastard, the better. So, I hope you have fun but I'm happy staying here," Levi insisted. "Plus, it means I get two weeks away from your annoying ass," He then goaded.

"Wait! I almost forgot!" Eren suddenly shouted before rummaging through the shit he'd left in the trunk at the end of the bed. "Here."

"What--"

"Don't open it now! It's a Christmas present. I told my mom about you in some of the letters I sent to her and she decided to get you something for Christmas since she treats all my friends like surrogate children of hers. So, Merry Christmas, Levi, since I won't get to say it to you on Christmas Day,"

There was silence from the other boy after Eren's rambling finished. He looked up to see that Levi was staring at the gift in his hands in shock and amazement. He held to present gingerly in his small hands, as if he was afraid that it would break or disappear if he held it too tightly. He finally looked up at Eren's face, where the brunet saw that Levi's eyes were glimmering with elation. Most startling, however, was when the corners of Levi's mouth lifted into a grin that spread across his face, wider than any smile Eren had glimpsed before. 

 _'I broke Levi'_ was the only thought currently running through Eren's head but the moment was cut short when a call from Erwin travelled down the hall, announcing that those leaving needed to be out now or they'd miss the train.

"Promise me you won't open it until Christmas Day?" Eren quickly clarified. Levi quickly nodded, apparently having not found his voice again yet. "Alright, here's my address in case you ever need it or if you want us to write to each other. I'll see you in two weeks." He waved to Levi as he walked out the door, the other boy alarmingly still smiling at him before he walked to place the gift safely at the bottom of his wardrobe.

One gesture and Eren (and his mom) had already made his Christmas better than any in recent memory.

-

"Merry Christmas, my special little boy!" Carla wrapped her arms tightly around her only son, squeezing him even as the boy tried to escape her grasp.

"Thanks, Ma. Merry Christmas," Still flustered after his mother attacking him with affection, he rushed to sit in front of the Christmas tree.

After opening heartfelt gifts, a few of which were different kinds of organizers which, while Eren appreciated them, he didn't believe he needed them. Yet, if Levi saw him organizing his stuff, the boy who probably keel over in shock. Eren didn't realize he was smiling at the thought of Levi's reaction until his mom broke him out of his thoughts.

"Thinking about your friend?" She smiled warmly at him, glad that he son had found someone who could put up with him.

"Yeah..." Eren admitted, a little embarrassed that he was so easy to read. "Levi is big on cleaning and being organized so I was thinking about his reaction to some of my presents."

"It seems like I would like Levi very much. You should invite him to come here some time, if his parents don't mind," Carla suggested, wanting to meet this boy that Eren is so fond of.

"Well...he lives with his uncle, actually, but...yeah, I'll see what he thinks when I go back," Eren awkwardly tried to skirt around Levi's difficult family situation, but Carla picked up on that and even developed a little, concerned crease between her eyebrows.

*

It was Christmas Day and Levi was almost completely alone, in both the common room and the entire castle. It seemed that few had a dysfunctional family situation that made them prefer the castle to returning to their 'home', in the loosest possible meaning of the word. 

Levi had been anticipating this day more than anything and the last couple of days of waiting can been killing him; he was desperate to open his first ever Christmas gift. While Christmas had been a celebrated affair while his mother was still alive, she was destitute and could barely afford food for the two of them, let alone presents. However, Levi quickly learned that it was less about the gifts and more about spending time with his only family. Yet, that was turned on its head after his uncle took him in because, while he received a gift in the form of a cheque with a substantial amount of money for him to use as he see fit, there was no love and affection that came with a day of hugs and kisses on the cheek from his mother. The day became little more than an ordinary day with limited interaction with his uncle of his own volition and more of finding some way to spend the day, which was also a day to celebrate the anniversary of his birth, alone while entertaining himself.

When Eren gave him the gift before he left to go back home, it made Levi so happy, the ever-composed boy almost cried. While he did manage to hold himself back from crying, he couldn't stop the smile that he gave Eren; he couldn't stop the pulling of his lips as they curved up or his eyes from automatically squinting a bit as his cheeks moved upwards with the gesture. 

If he was being honest with himself, Levi was embarrassed that he showed that side of himself to someone as he hadn't been that open with his emotions since his mother died. However, if he was going to reveal that side of himself to someone, then he couldn't ask for a better person than Eren, who he quickly realized he trusted more than anyone.

While he couldn't get to sleep on Christmas Eve, it was less from insomnia and more from being too excited to be able to wait until morning however, surprisingly enough, Levi must have managed to fall asleep as when his eyes opened next, he looked at the time to find that it was the morning of Christmas Day at the reasonable time of seven-thirty. Not being able to wait any longer, he quickly threw his sheets off, and chucked the wardrobe door open, grabbing his neatly wrapped gift sitting at the bottom. 

Sitting back down on his bed, Levi gingerly picked at the wrapping, opening it with minimal ripping, to find three items in a gift box: a bottle of cleaning spray, microfiber cloths to go with the cleaning spray, and an unrelated book called Peter Pan. As he lifted up the book to look more closely at it, a note dropped back into the box. Noting that it was in Eren's handwriting, he read:

> 'Dear Levi,
> 
> Merry Christmas. I hope you didn't get impatient and open this before it was actually Christmas but I trust you didn't ruin the fun of the holiday.
> 
> I conspired with my mom to get you some things I thought you would enjoy and since we can't go to Hogsmeade yet, I had to get you stuff from a muggle store so I hope you don't mind. I hope that you can put the spray and the cloths to good use - I'm sure I'll return to our room to find it spotless as usual but with a citrus scent to it.
> 
> The book is one of my favorites from when I was younger about a boy who can fly. I noticed that you enjoy Flying class a lot (which, as a sane human being, I can't understand), and so I thought you might enjoy it.
> 
> Hope you enjoy your day, even though I'm not there 😊
> 
> From,
> 
> Eren
> 
> P.S. In the book, Tinkerbell is my favorite. She reminds me of you (lol)'

A warm feeling was buzzing around Levi's chest after reading Eren's letter, yet he was confused that Eren likened him to a female character. Investigating who this 'Tinkerbell' actually was, he found the small pixie character fairly early on and, realizing it for the short joke that it was, lost that warm feeling in his chest, replacing it with hot rage.

*

A few days prior to returning to Hogwarts, he received a letter from his owl, Zeke. Seeing Levi's handwriting on the front, he eagerly opened it, expecting a lengthy correspondence. What he instead received was:

> ~~'Dear~~   ~~To Eren~~ ~~Hey~~ ,
> 
> Fuck you'

A laugh erupted out of Eren, knowing exactly what Levi was talking about.

-

"Hey Tinkerbell, did you miss me?" Eren looked at Levi with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Oh, fuck off." Levi was having none of it and turned away.

"C'mon...I've grown on you over these past few months," Eren goaded.

"Like a fungal infection?"

"Ouch, Levi. So, did you enjoy your Christmas?" Levi simply nodded. "I know you must've like the spray 'cause I can smell the Ajax in here,"

"Thanks," Came a quiet, slightly reluctant response from Levi. Eren happily smiled with the knowledge that his friend did indeed like the gifts.

"Guess what? It's my birthday soon, Levi! Are you going to celebrate with me? Sing me Happy Birthday when I wake up? Spoil me with good deeds and compliments?" With no response from Levi, Eren prompted him, "Levi?"

"Oh, sorry. I thought they were rhetorical." Levi's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Ass," Eren said under his breath. "Well, when's your birthday, Levi?"

"Already been."

"How? You didn't even tell me!" Eren was outraged. Levi's birthday had to have passed since they'd been friends and not earlier, otherwise he'd be a year above Eren.

"You weren't here. Plus, you never asked," Levi was not entirely enthused with the conversation, but humored Eren anyway.

"Your birthday was over Christmas break? That's not fair. I would have done something special before I left,"

"Christmas Day, actually," Eren's eyes bulged at that admission. "But you were spending time with your mom and you would've felt obliged to stay and spend it with me. I didn't want you to pick me over your mom," While Eren was a little peeved that Levi didn't tell him, he raised a good point. He  _would_ have felt obliged to stay with Levi, even though he really wanted to see his mom again.

"Well, you could have told me so I could get you a birthday present  _and_ a Christmas present," Eren insisted.

"What's the point? I never celebrated my birthday anyway, not since my mom died," Levi clearly wanted to conversation to end there but Eren couldn't take a hint.

"...How long ago was that? Why haven't you celebrated it since?" Eren probed.

"It doesn't matter, Eren. Just drop it. Please." Reluctantly, Eren did drop it, saddened that Levi hasn't had a proper birthday in what seems like a while.

Seeing Eren's sad face moved Levi to add, "You don't need to worry, anyway. There was a banquet on Christmas and McGonagall and even Dumbledore wished me a happy birthday. He even gave me some Every Flavor Beans but you can have those. I'm not really a fan,"

"Well, I'll make sure that you have a birthday worth remembering." Eren stubbornly refused to stand down and while Levi was a little annoyed, he couldn't deny that he was a little excited for his future birthdays and what Eren might do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second update for the day/night depending on where you guys are.  
> I'll probably be updating again pretty soon so I hope I haven't lost you guys yet.  
> Sorry for the size of this chapter but it was part of a double update so I hope that makes up for it.  
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.  
> ~ackerlev


	8. Levi the Tutor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi agrees to help Eren with class work that he's struggling with (plus an introduction of a new character)

Leaving Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Eren was - as he always was with that class - overwhelmed with information and a little unsettled at the idea of having to use any of the jinxes and hexes he'd learned. Leaving with their homework of writing an essay on the cure for werewolf bites, Eren was dreading sitting down an writing a lengthy spiel on werewolf bite, regardless of the fact that until an hour ago, Eren wasn't even aware that werewolves were a real thing that existed in the magical world and not just in Young Adult fiction.

"Levi~" Eren whined. "Can you help me, please?"

"Fine. Let's head to the library after our last class today."

Later in the day, after their final class, the pair headed up the stairs towards the library. Between two towering bookshelves, they found an empty table to sit their stationery and books down on and Levi proceeded to help Eren.

"The textbook has information in it on this page, but make sure not to copy it word-for-word. You know how pissy the professors get when you do that." Levi started coaching Eren through the grueling task of finishing his homework. At least it would end up being one task he handed in on time.

"See here," Levi directed Eren to where his finger was pointing in the textbook, "It's a mixture of powdered silver and dittany. Just know that, even though the name says 'cure', it's not; it's just a treatment to prevent the bitten person from bleeding out. Although, I'd guess that some people would probably prefer to not be treated so that they could bleed out and avoid becoming a werewolf. That'd probably be a shit life--wait, don't write that down," Eren was furiously scribbling as Levi was talking, eyes darting between the parchment he was writing on and the section of the textbook and Levi pointed out.

"Well, aren't you a morbid, little thing!" A Ravenclaw student appeared behind Levi, the two boys too absorbed in their work to notice the new arrival before they spoke. Levi jumped in his seat, startled by the sudden voice just behind him.

The student, whose eyes were framed by thick glasses and brown hair tied up messily into a ponytail, slid into the seat next the Levi, who was still glaring at the person who startled him. 

Eren opens his mouth to ask the new student who they were when they caught on and beat him to it.

"Oh, right. I'm Hanji Zoe, a second-year. You two can call me Hanji," The person smiled at Eren warmly, but looked almost maniacally happy at Levi. "Before you ask, just refer to me as they or them. I don't really have a preferred gender,"

"...Nice to meet you, Hanji," Eren politely said, a little confused as to the reason behind their appearance.

"It's certainly nice to meet you, honey bun," Eren didn't know how he felt about the pet name. "Now tell me, how is it being Slytherin's only Muggleborn wizard?"

"Uh...it's okay,"

"I'm sure you cope fine with this scary, little guy with you," Hanji replied, throwing her arm around Levi's shoulder, the boy quick the throw her arm off. Hanji quickly turned her inquisitive gaze onto Levi, who was intensely glaring at her.

"Levi, is it true that you used to be a cri--" Levi quickly grabbed his wand and cast  _Silencio_ , which stopped Hanji's invasive question short. Hanji's eyes widened in evident surprise and amazement; Eren was impressed too - not seeing that spell anywhere in their curriculum for this year or even next year - but Levi's widened eyes and speed with which he stopped Hanji from speaking had Eren confused as to what he was hiding.

However, the spell didn't last long, but at least Hanji had something new to probe Levi about.

"Wow, I had heard you were skilled but doing a spell that fifth-years are just learning is amazing." Hanji grabbed Levi's face between her hands, looking him over as if there were an explanation for his skill on the skin of his face.

"Get off me, Glasses. Eren, come on - we're going back to the common room." Levi was annoyed at Hanji, but now for more than just the references to his height.

While Levi was actively ignoring the excitable Ravenclaw as he walked out, Eren turned to awkwardly wave to Hanji.

*

"Eren, my cutie pie! It's been so long since I saw you!" Hanji squeezed Eren in a suffocating hug. The two boys had come class, Levi from Astronomy and Eren from History of Magic, and the two were meeting in the library after class to do some work before returning to the common room.

"Hanji, that was three days ago," Eren replied.

"I know! It was a long three days," Hanji flopped her head onto the table the boys were at, apparently not there just for a simple greeting.

"I'm going to find a reference book," Levi announced, quick to leave the table that Hanji had started inhabiting.

With Levi gone, Eren realized that he could ask Hanji what she was going to ask Levi.

"Hey Hanji, what was it you were asking Levi last time?" Eren spoke quietly, both because Madam Pince was quick to pull them up for being loud but also because Levi was sensitive about it.

"Well, while I'd be happy to share some gossip with you, sugar, Levi doesn't seem to want you to know and that wouldn't normally stop me but I'm sure that little munchkin would be able to kill me in many different long and painful ways so sorry, pumpkin, but my lips are sealed on this one."

It wasn't long before Levi returned and Hanji found somewhere else to be. Once they finished their work, they had some free time until dinner so the two returned to their dorm to put their books and stationery away.

"Levi...what was Hanji saying that you didn't want me knowing?" Eren worked up the courage to ask Levi when it was just the two of them in their room.

After a long silence from Levi, Eren thought he wouldn't get a reply but eventually, Levi vaguely said, "There was a time after my mom died where I had to fend for myself and I had to do some bad things to get by. That's all you need to know."

Levi never looked at Eren when saying any of it so, while Eren wanted to know more, it was clear that it was something he needed to leave alone.

So Eren respected Levi's unsaid wishes and said, "Okay. Thanks for telling me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi,  
> Sorry this came out a little later than I wanted it to - my old laptop completely died so I had to get a new one but we're all good now!  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter - it's more of a filler to introduce Hanji and some more of Levi's issues but I hope it wasn't too short and terrible for you guys.  
> Also, don't be alarmed if Hanji doesn't show up again for a bit - I have stuff planned but not stuff that will happen right away.  
> See you guys again next week sometime,  
> ~ackerlev


	9. Summer Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll notice that I added an archive warning for violence as this is where the extent of Levi's family trouble is revealed. Please note that I didn't choose to add that archive warning lightly and if violence and physical abuse is not something you are comfortable with, please don't read this chapter as essentially the majority of the chapter is about the violence/abuse and I don't want any of you to get triggered or just feel uncomfortable with the content. I do have to include it though, as it's important to Levi's character to give him some canon-like angst.
> 
> So sorry if this affects any of you guys but you have been warned. Either way, enjoy and if you aren't able to read this one, I'll have the next chapter out soon that will roughly sum up the event of this one without the detail.  
> ~ackerlev

"Promise me you'll send me letters? 'Cause I'll be sending  _you_ letters," Eren held Levi's slightly annoyed gaze with his puppy-dog eyes.

"Yes, fine. I'll write back," Levi's response was curt, making Eren frown a little. He tries another avenue of conversation, hoping to get a livelier response.

"We'll be Second-Years when we get back! It'll be great not to be the newbies anymore." That didn't even garner a grunt of acknowledgment from Levi. "Hopefully we'll be able to share a dorm like we did this year. You'd miss me too much if we weren't in the same dorm, wouldn't you, Levi?"

"Sure."

Eren gave up, leaving Levi to mope around as he packed the last of his items into his trunk. The past few days, ever since exams ended and summer holidays drew near, Levi's attitude got more and more pissy as he would get annoyed at the tiniest thing and wouldn't join Eren in their usual banter. Yet, whenever Eren asked him if he was doing okay, the pale boy would deny anything was wrong. After multiple failed attempts at trying to pry the issue out of Levi's tightly sealed lips, Eren eventually gave up, leaving him to mope around with that signature scowl cementing itself on the small boy's face.

As the two boarded the Hogwarts Express, the two shared a compartment without any of Eren's other friends. The brunet knew that Levi, in his already dismal mood, would not appreciate the company of a group of loud, hyperactive peers. Even with the possibility of having an entire side to himself, Eren chose to sit on the same side as Levi, leaving a gap between the two of them so he wouldn't feel like he was suffocating Levi with his presence.

But the ride was like the first trip here; Levi was sitting in subdued silence while Eren was eager to break it. It was as if, in the compartment right now, their entire year's friendship had dispelled, leaving them - or at least Eren - awkward with the tense silence in the room.

Finally, after too long, the trolley lady came by and Eren eagerly jumped up and bought some sweets to give himself something to do. After receiving a response that Levi didn't want anything, Eren proceeded to by a mammoth's share of sweets of the trolley (Sasha would be impressed), Eren dug in. Shoving him mouth full of the delicious lollies, he noticed a gaze on him and when he looked up, he saw Levi was staring at him with a look of disgust on his features. Taking this as an opportunity to interact with Levi, who was finally wanting to look at him properly, Eren smiled a toothy grin, sweets and all, which intensified Levi's disgusted look. Eren burst into laughter, albeit with a hand over his mouth to keep the lollies from falling out. Levi's serious expression softened at Eren's laughter and silliness, before he turned away again to continue looking out the window at the countryside scenery.

Eren soon finished his stack of lollies and, with a friend that is not a good conversationalist and nothing else to do, he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall, hoping to pass some time with a nap.

Surprisingly enough, though, Eren slept through the rest of the trip and only woke once Levi shook him awake, informing him that they were back in London. He groggily stood up, stretched and grabbed his carry-on luggage from the overhead tray, seeing Levi do the same beside him, although needing to go onto his tiptoes slightly to reach. Biting back a grin, Eren followed Levi out and off the train before the two followed everyone through the wall that separated platform 9 3/4 from the rest of King's Cross's platforms.

"Eren! I'm over here!" It had only been a few seconds since Eren had gone through the wall with all his luggage but his mom had already spotted him and started heading his way.

Deciding to meet her halfway, he turned to Levi, who had already started walking away without a word. He was heading towards a smartly dressed but intimidating looking man who didn't look like Levi's uncle. Then again, if Kenny Ackerman was distinguished enough to appear on a chocolate frogs card, he would have enough money to hire people to do tasks for him; tasks like picking up his nephew. Eren wishes Levi would've said bye to him before leaving but he brushes it off as part of Levi's bad mood. Instead he calls out to him, "Levi! Write to me!" The pale boy turns to him, gives him a nod, and continues on his way.

His mother has caught up to him at this point and she asks him, "Is that your friend, Levi?" Eren nods and his mom turns, leading them back to her car while she pesters him with questions about everything.

When Eren woke up the next day, the first thing he did was pen a letter to Levi and send it on its way. But he waited a week and had no reply from Levi, knowing from experience that it typically took no more than a couple of days for messages to be delivered between the two of them. Feeling dejected and disappointed, Eren penned another letter, this one slightly more passive aggressive, and sent this one too, hoping that Levi might deign to give him a response. Eren didn't mind if it was succinct - such was Levi's way; he just wanted to have a correspondence with his best friend while they couldn't see each other. However, another week had passed after sending the second letter and Eren was feeling pretty pissed at this point. Eren was the only one that was following through on their promise to write to each other - mind you, Levi didn't promise; he merely said he would write.

Carla, seeing her son upset at the lack of letters back from Levi, tried placating her wild boy, saying that he might've been on holidays at that time and hadn't received the letters. But Eren, knowing that Levi had a troubling family situation, was certain that his friend wasn't away on a nice holiday. Knowing his mother was trying, however, was enough for him to placate and, despondent, he gave up.

 

*

 

Levi had spent the first half of his holiday training - practicing his kickboxing, knife skills, as well as general strength and speed drills. Yet, every afternoon, he returned to his room to find that he hadn't received any letters. Given Eren's eagerness to keep in contact, he was confused as to why he hadn't received any letters. Strangely enough, it actually sent a pang of disappointment through Levi's chest, an unpleasant feeling that he immediately forced away.

However, tonight was different as, after his post-training shower, he was summoned to his uncle's office. An unsettling amount of fear settled into his gut as he promptly made his way to the grand doors of his uncle's office and main room of business. One of Kenny's lackeys manned the door and upon seeing Levi, he opened the set of doors, allowing Levi to sidle in and stop before his uncle's desk. He stood tall beside the empty chair until his uncle directed him to sit. Once seated, Kenny wasted no time in giving Levi a task he needed done.

"What, you thought you'd get to stay here all holiday for free without doing something for me? You should know, Levi, that nothing in this world is given for free," His uncle's mouth spread into a grin, exposing teeth stained by coffee and cigarettes. "Especially not letters from your new toy. Aaron? Erin?" Kenny grabbed out two letters, with Levi's name written in Eren's messy scrawl, and waved them tauntingly.

Levi bristled, both in embarrassment and in trepidation of what his uncle would ask him to do.

"A client of mine is being a little too friendly with our enemies. I need you to go and teach him a lesson. I don't care how much you hurt him as long as he lives to remember the punishment he gets." Kenny slid a piece of paper across the desk to Levi, who lifted it to see a name and a location of where to find the man. "Tomorrow morning, you'll head out, accompanied by two of my men, and you'll meet with Mr Shadis. I don't give a fuck what excuses he spouts, you will do what I'm asking you to do, Levi. You know what happens when you disappoint me." With that, Kenny placed a familiar knife in front of Levi and turned his chair so the back of it was facing Levi, a silent dismissal. Levi, having memorized the information, left the paper on the desk, grabbed the knife - whose feel was as natural to him as his own limbs - and left the suffocating office, hearing them click shut behind him as he headed back to his room.

The next morning at six-o'clock sharp, Levi met two of Kenny's lackeys at the front door, who walked with him to a car parked out the front. Climbing in the back seat with the two men occupying the front seats, Levi turned the knife in his hand, waiting for them to arrive.

Sina Medical Center was a ghost town this early in the morning, the only people present being one receptionist and a nurse idling around the break room. Levi strode up to the receptionist, a young woman with false eyelashes and too much makeup, and curtly asked for where Shadis was. After being pointed in the right direction, his strides grew quicker as adrenaline started to pump through him. Turning the corner into a large treatment room, he spotted a bald, bearded man rifling through a cupboard.

"Are you Keith Shadis?" Levi asks, voice low and firm.

Shadis whipped his head toward Levi, his eyes widening when he spotted the cutthroat men behind the boy. Knowing what they were here about, he started to spout excuses but Levi quickly cut him off by walking up to him and swinging his leg around and into the man's side. Shadis realized at that moment that he had underestimated the young boy as that same boy started to beat the shit out of him, driving a knee up and smashing the man's nose. Blood runs down the man's face and neck as he falls to the ground but the attacks kept going, Levi driving kicks into the man's gut. The whole time, ever since Levi had gotten out of the car at the medical center, he'd been on autopilot, hoping that none of this experience would stick with him for long, the same hope he had with every 'task' of his uncle's. 

Levi pulled his knife out, sticking the sharp point into the underside of the man's chin, marginally avoiding breaking the skin. 

"My uncle would like you to stop sticking your dick in other people asses." Levi said, his tone threatening even while his face stayed blank.

"I won't! He's my main--" Shadis is cut off when a bespectacled, brown-haired man entered the treatment room, his shoes clacking against the linoleum floor. All eyes looked at him and knowing the man was a witness to Levi's attack on Shadis, they would need to make sure the guest didn't tell anyone, either through similar means as Shadis or by killing the guy. With a glance at the new man's ID pinned to his breast pocket, the last name stood out to him: **JAEGER**. Levi halted, eyes agape at the familiar name. The man could be related to Eren - how many people with the last name 'Jaeger' live in London? It's not like it's a common last name, like Smith.

Levi made eye contact with the startled man who was too scared to move yet. "Go." When the man still hadn't moved, Levi raised his voice. "GO!"

When the lackeys went to go after the guy, Levi held them back. He was Kenny's nephew and as such, he was superior to them - they had to follow his lead or face the consequences. So begrudgingly, the men stopped trying to go after Jaeger, resorting to giving Levi a glare that let him know his uncle was most definitely finding out about his stupidly merciful actions. Sure enough, he notices the man in the passenger seat firing off a text message, most likely to Kenny given the evil grin he was given in the rear view mirror by the driver.

As he walked in the front doors, he knew he would be called to his uncle's office before the doorman informed him of the summons. Uselessly steeling himself, he make his way to Kenny. Still behind the desk like last time Levi was in here, Kenny stared intensely at Levi, not giving away a clear emotion - although Levi knew that was when Kenny was most scary. The difference in this encounter was that Kenny didn't direct him into the empty seat, leaving him to stand before the large desk.

"One of my men informed me via text that you let a witness to the assault go without any kind of threat. I may have people within the Muggle's police force that can avoid any charges being filed against me or you. Today's events are making me believe that maybe I should let this witness file a report and see if a prison sentence can teach you a better lesson than I apparently can." Levi grew more and more tense and his uncle's tirade continued. "What have I ever been unclear about, Levi?"

Levi stayed silent, jumping when his uncle slammed a hand on his polished desk, standing up to his full height. He walked purposefully slow around his desk before stopping in front of Levi, who kept his gaze directed at the floor. There were a few seconds where Kenny merely stood in front of him, but Levi knew not to get his hopes up.

Within a second, Kenny had driven a blindingly fast knee into Levi's stomach, the direct hit to his diaphragm causing Levi to keel forward and vomit over his uncle's rug.

"You disgusting mongrel!" Kenny grabbed the back of Levi's head and slammed it down into the puddle of vomit. "If I didn't love my sister as much as I did, I would have left you to die on the streets, you freeloading, spineless cocksucker!"

Levi squirmed in his uncle's hold, trying to get free without success. Kenny soon lets go of Levi's head and just as Levi gets a reprieve from a face full of his own vomit, his uncle stands back up and sends one of his legs swinging around into Levi's head, knocking the boy unconscious for a few seconds. Levi opened his eyes again to a hand squeezing his face, "Not yet, Sleeping Beauty," His uncle smiled sadistically as Levi wished to fall back into unconsciousness. But Levi didn't have his wish granted as his uncle drove a foot into Levi's ribs as a crack sounded out, drawing a gasp of pain from the normally stoic Levi. Rolling onto his other side, he curled up, trying in vain to protect himself, as his uncle launched kick after kick at him. Tears escaped Levi as he heard more cracks, hoping for whichever came first out of the sweet nothingness of unconsciousness, or his uncle growing tired and giving up.

It turned out to be the latter as after a dozen more kicks, Levi flinched but felt nothing. He opened his eyes that had been clenched shut and sees Kenny holding Eren's letters again, this time with a lighter in the other hand. Levi wants to stop his uncle but he can't move, even as he sets the flame to it and the letters burn. 

"Take him to his room and send for a doctor. No meds though. Also, get a fucking cleaner in here - I want the blood and vomit off my rug" Kenny orders his men.

Levi resigns to his fate as he's lifted under each arm by the two men that accompanied him to the clinic. It's moments before unconsciousness takes Levi again as he's dragged along.

 

Levi opens his eyes to a dark room, night sky out the window indicating he'd been out for a few hours. He goes to adjust himself before gasping at the sharp pain ripping through his chest. His chest had a bandage strapped tightly around his rib cage and his porcelain skin was mottled with black and blue, almost no inch of pale skin to be seen. It was usual for his uncle to not allow him to have any pain medication after being punished so the experience wasn't anything unusual. However, his uncle did a number on him, giving the searing pain on both sides that indicated multiple broken ribs.

It isn't long before Levi falls asleep again, although the night involved little sleep due to the amount of pain he was in. When early morning came, Levi was reminded that Eren  _had_ written to him, more than once even. Saddened that he wouldn't know what Eren wrote in the letters he sent, Levi wanted Eren to know regardless that Levi hadn't forgotten the promise; he just had a shitty uncle that interfered too much.

Pushing through the pain to sit up and make his way to the desk, he sat and starting writing:

> _Eren,_
> 
> _I'm sorry I haven't written back sooner; family issues, you know._
> 
> _How are you? I'm doing alright._
> 
> _How is your mom? I hope she's healthy and well._
> 
> _I hope you're not too pissed at me for not sending you a letter sooner._
> 
>  
> 
> _Levi_

Levi even signed the letter with a poop symbol at the end after Eren had taught him about emojis, especially the poop one given Levi liberal use of the word 'shit'. Even though Eren explained that they were used in text messages and not letters, Levi drew one anyway - maybe that would be his new way of signing letters.

He handed the letter to his owl and opened the window so she could deliver the letter to Eren, who hopefully wasn't too pissed (even though Levi knew he would have already been livid). Levi returned to his bed, laying down a letting out a deep sigh, even as the movement hurt him.


	10. Return to Hogwarts (with Revelations)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi and Eren return to Hogwarts for their Second Year but Levi's holiday escapades may end up coming to light.

Eren said his goodbyes to his mom, submitting to a kiss on the cheek, before making his way back onto Platform 9 3/4. The anxious and excited bustle of the new First Years made his trek towards the train a tediously long one and, given the amount of students around, Eren was having a hard time spotting Levi's straight, ebony hair among all the other heads. It probably didn't help that Levi's height would also affect Eren not being able to find his close friend.

The two managed to stay in contact for the remaining weeks of the holiday after Levi finally deigned to reply to him. Eren was a little worried, given the description of Kenny Levi had given him but since Levi didn't mention anything in their correspondence, Eren brushed it off. And given Levi's naturally curt and concise way of speaking and writing, Eren wouldn't be able to notice if anything was wrong with Levi.

Making his way onto the Hogwarts Express, Eren declined an offer from Armin and the others in favor of finding either Levi, or an empty compartment that Levi could find him in and join him. Making his way down the aisle, he spotted Levi sitting in a compartment by himself. Although Levi always seemed to look a bit tired, when Eren looked in, he noticed the smaller boy was asleep, deeper, darker eyebags under his long lashes.

Eren opened the compartment door as delicately as possible but the door still squeaked a little, startling his friend out of his sleep. Levi's eyes darted to the doorway, pupils the size of pinheads, calming down once he noticed that he wasn't in any kind of danger.

Settling back into his seat, Levi got comfortable once more, trying to keep his eyes open this time since he knew Eren would want to talk. As Eren walked in, Levi noticed that the brunet appeared to stand a little taller, his head reaching a little higher in the small compartment.

Eren notices Levi's looks and starts to grow uncomfortable. "Levi, why are you staring? If it's about waking you, I'm sorry. You don't have to worry; I won't mention it to anyone."

"It's fine. You just look like you've gotten a bit taller," Levi had a slightly bitter tone to his voice, having not grown more than half an inch compared to Eren's couple of inches, if not more.

Eren's typical shit-eating grin appeared again, knowing that Levi was now even shorter than him. Levi responded to Eren's grin with a venomous glare, which provoked a laugh from the taller boy.

As Levi expected, Eren did talk to him. However, when Eren questions into what Levi did during the holiday returned vague, non-committal responses, the brunet quickly gave up, knowing Levi wouldn't budge if he didn't want to talk. But it wasn't that Levi didn't want to talk with Eren; it was that he was being asked too many questions that he couldn't give an answer to. _'_ _That week when you didn't reply, what were you getting up to? Get up to much with Kenny? I hope he didn't make you do anything serious.'_ Levi felt bad but he couldn't put himself or Eren at risk.

Once they arrived at Hogwarts, Eren quickly got over the annoyance of the train ride, instead excited to not have to get to the castle by boat this year. As Hagrid informed them, they were to climb into open-roofed carriages pulled by creatures called Thestrals. Eren was confused, though, as he could see any creature in front of the carriages.

"Don't ye worry, lad. The thestrals are there. Ye just kenn't see them 'cause ye haven't had a member o'yer family die," Hagrid explained when Eren asked the half-giant. The brunet turned, quickly realizing that his small friend would be able to see the thestrals.

As Eren and Levi boarded the carriage together, Eren asked for certainty, "Levi, you can see the thestrals, can't you?"

"Yeah. I wish I couldn't, 'cause that would mean I'd still have a mom, but yeah, I can see them." Levi's reply was morose and morbid, making Eren unsure of whether to ask his next question. Thankfully Levi saved him from navigating the social standards by predicting his question. "You want to know what they look like, I bet. They're like a horse - Muggles have horses, right? Okay - but they have a skeletal body with bat-like wings." Eren shudders a little at the creepy imagery Levi is providing him with, honestly a little thankful he can't see them as the carriages start to move. With each jolt of the carriage of some of the uneven ground, a grimace appears on Levi's face, the boy's arms circling his upper torso, although Eren was none the wiser as he was too absorbed in taking in the scenery.

*

Getting situated in a dorm room with Levi once again, Eren set out unpacking his things, the task quickly becoming routine. However, Eren noticed that Levi was lagging behind him quite a lot, which was quite unusual for the boy. While Levi's particular tidiness and order caused him to take longer than Eren haphazard arrangement, the extreme slowness concerned Eren.

"Levi, what's wrong? Are you tired?" Eren walked up to his friend, placing his hand on Levi's back, just below his shoulder blades, where he heard a hiss escape Levi.

"I'm fine!" Levi swatted Eren's arm away, but the boy had already noticed. Levi's was breathing heavily, with the occasional breath cut off with a hiss of pain. Sweat was also starting to line Levi's hairline, raising many red flags in Eren's mind.

"No, you're hurt, Levi! Come, we're going to Madam Pomfrey." Levi struggled but in his pained state, he was weak as Eren dragged him out the common room and up the stairs towards the Hospital quarters. Levi quickly submits, letting Eren drag him forward as the pale boy grew ever more pale.

"Excuse me, Madam Pomfrey! My friend needs to be seen to," Eren announced as they entered the Hospital Wing part of the castle.

Pomfrey was not expecting patients so early into the new school year and she said as much, although Levi had started to drown out most external noise. When Madam Pomfrey saw Levi's even paler, sweat-covered face, she quickly ushered him to the nearest bed, urging Eren to wait outside the privacy curtain as she pulled it around the bed. Levi sat on the bed as Pomfrey slid Levi's shirt up and over his head to inspect the injured area, only to find a smattering of now yellow and green bruises covering Levi's torso, particularly around his ribs but not limited to that area. Levi was reluctant to answer any of Pomfrey's medical inquiries which gave her a hint as to what caused this and having heard of Levi's uncle's notoriety, she trusted her judgment.

She felt around his ribs, hearing many hisses of pain as Levi tried to push her probing hands away. She made sure to check his abdomen for internal damage as well, even though the bruises were old and if he'd had damage to his organs or internal bleeding, he would've died already. Either way, she continued her medical assessment, finding nothing alarming apart from still-healing broken ribs and multiple areas of tenderness.

"Mr Ackerman," Levi looked at Pomfrey with disdain and a hint of fear. "An investigation can be made and whoever abused you, even if it's your uncle, will be locked away. You won't have to deal with this anymore." Levi looked startled after realizing that she's put the pieces together quite quickly, quicker than he expected and prepared for in his mind. "As per my contract, I am required to report cases of abuse in students, both from inside the castle and outside, to the Headmaster. He'll help organize new arrangements for you so you don't have to worry," Pomfrey adopted a soothing tone to ease the poor boy, but Levi was feeling more and more trapped.

"No! He'll come for me, he will! He'll kill me! He'll fucking kill me!" Levi started to get stand up, eager to leave but Pomfrey pushed him back down, calling Eren in for assistance. He noticed Eren's eyes developed a pitying look as he saw the myriad of bruises covering his friend's body.

"Drink this, boy. It'll help," Pomfrey all but forced a concoction down his throat and he started to feel himself getting more and more sleepy. He was maneuvered by the two into a laying position and his eyes closed unwillingly and he fell into a deep, medicated sleep.

Pomfrey turned to Eren, who looked saddened by his friend's state.

"Head back to your dorm, now. It's getting late," At Eren's reluctance to leave, she comforted him by adding, "I've given him a mixture of pain medication and a sedative for when I mend his ribs that weren't mended earlier. Physically, he'll be fine by tomorrow." Pomfrey left it at that and, feeling more at ease than earlier, left and returned to his room.

As Eren left, Pomfrey returned to Levi's bedside, pulling out her wand and casting  _Brackium Emendo_ , healing Levi's bones as they should have been healed weeks ago.

 

Levi woke up the next morning in pajamas he didn't change into, in a room that wasn't his dorm. 

"Here, drink this." A glass of water was thrust in front of him and Madam Pomfrey briefly assessed his condition. "Your ribs are healed but the bruises still need to heal. I'd advise you to take it easy for a few days."

As Levi finished the glass and placed it on the bedside table, Pomfrey reminded him of something he'd rather have forgotten.

"Also, Mr Ackerman, the Headmaster is waiting to see you. I believe he also has someone from the Ministry with him."

Levi quickly dressed into his uniform, which was neatly folded and sitting beside the bed, and made his way up to Dumbledore's office. 

True to her word, Pomfrey was right about there being a Ministry official with Dumbledore as Levi walked in to see the two of them discussing matters.

Once the two noticed Levi's presence, conversation was launched as Levi sat silently, only answering when required with what was required.

"Levi, with your statement against your uncle and any acts of abuse that he either performed himself or orchestrated, he can be locked away for a long time. However, it is vital that you speak up, otherwise he would likely be able to thwart our personal investigations."

Levi nodded, and timidly began recounting any damning events that Kenny was a part of.

*

Returning to the dorm room, it was now almost late afternoon and Eren had apparently finished his classes as the boy was sitting at his desk, starting some homework. However, when the boy saw Levi for the first time since last night, he immediately gave up any attempt at his homework in favor of greeting his friend. But the excited dims into a reluctance to approach him, Eren feeling the need to walk on eggshells around Levi.

"So...Levi, how are you?" Levi gave him a look that caused him to realize how stupid a question that was given the current circumstances. "Yeah, that was dumb. But...um...did you--did you want to tell me what happened?"

Levi sighed, appreciating Eren's support, and gave a small nod. The two sit on Levi's bed together as Levi reveals to Eren everything he told Dumbledore and the Ministry worker.

"Kenny started getting me to do jobs for him when I was eight, however, he trained me for a year before that so that I'd be capable of doing the jobs he needed me to do. It wasn't like the asshole gave me a choice, either; it was that or fend for myself on the streets. Most of the jobs were when a client needed to be taught a lesson, and by that I mean have the shit beat out of them so that they're too scared to cross him again. 

About halfway through the holidays, Kenny approached me with a job and threatened to destroy your letters if I didn't cooperate, which is why you hadn't gotten a reply from me. So I agreed and headed out to a clinic to intimidate a man who was working there. What I also found, however, was a Muggle man who had your last name. I thought he might've been your father and even though Kenny always taught me not to leave any witnesses to a crime, I couldn't do that to your father and have him potentially be killed. So I let him go."

"The guy's an asshat; you shouldn't have risked your safety for my dick of a father who hasn't even seen me in five years," 

"Eren, I couldn't do that to the man that was probably your dad, not when I've always wished I had a dad. Then maybe I wouldn't be resorted to going into foster care until I'm eighteen. Either way, Kenny knew I blew it and beat the shit out of me and so I learned my lesson, he made sure I healed the Muggle way, but with no pain meds either so I could never sleep well, even if my insomnia wasn't an issue." While he talked, Levi wringed his own hands, not looking at Eren incase he saw judgment in his friend's eyes.

"Kenny's a dick and he deserves whatever legal hell is coming to him." Eren threw a comforting arm around Levi's shoulder. "And whatever home they send you to, I'm sure they'll be very nice people."

Relieved at the weight lifted off his chest with Eren finally knowing the secrets of his home life, Levi dropped his head onto Eren's shoulder, whispering, "Thanks, Eren."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,  
> Sorry that it's been, like, 2 weeks since the last update. I've just been having second thoughts about where I want the story to go at the moment. I didn't intend to add any angst to this story but I wanted to make it more similar to canon and give some reason for why Levi is the way he is.  
> I'd really like some feedback from you guys about this chapter and where I'm going with Levi's situation. I didn't know if I wanted it drawn out a little longer but I decided against it. I'm trying to keep it as realistic as possible given that they're wizards and have different systems (I assume) with regards to social services but I assumed it would be roughly the same.  
> Levi's new family will be revealed in either the next chapter or the one after but I'm working on keeping it centered on Hogwarts and his time with Eren.  
> Anyway, happy reading. Please comment and/or give kudos  
> ~ackerlev


	11. A New Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi meets his new foster family

"Levi, we've found a family for you." Dumbledore's eyes watched Levi closely, seeing the young boy's grey eyes light up minutely at the news. "They're a family of Squibs so you won't have to hide your magic or your schooling at Hogwarts. Don't worry, my boy; they're a very amiable family, I believe with children close to your age as well."

Levi struggled to stop himself from building up hope at the potential to have a normal family for the first time in a long while but, in the end, he couldn't help the warm feeling of anticipation and happiness from filling his belly.

He was to meet this family on a brief visit over the weekend, specifically at Dumbledore's request, instead of waiting until Christmas Break and being stuck with a family that he didn't feel comfortable with. Meeting with the Headmaster on Friday afternoon after his final class for the day, Dumbledore explained that he would be accompanying the young lad, given that he felt a certain duty to make sure the boy was comfortable. As such, Dumbledore decided to apparate the two of them to the small house in Surrey. With a hand on Levi's shoulder while the boy's internal organs were still reeling from apparating, the two made their way toward the house, where a man and woman had already opened their door.

"Good afternoon." Dumbledore greeted the husband and wife who owned the house. "This is Levi, who I mentioned before. I apologize for imposing; I wished to ensure he felt comfortable before I took my leave." At Dumbledore's gentle hand on his back, Levi stepped forward. The boy looked closely at the two people who would be his guardians until he turned eighteen, noticing a lack of disturbing aura around them that Kenny all but exuded. The two smiled cautiously at him, treating his like a skittish cat, gingerly beckoning he and Dumbledore inside.

However, before Levi could take two steps toward the house, a small girl with bright red hair up in two pigtails raced to her mother's leg.

"Mama, do we have visitors?" The girl excitedly asked. Without waiting for an answer from her mother, the girl looked out of the front door and noticed Levi. A big grin spread across the girl's face as she ducked past her mother and came racing out down the footpath. Before Levi could properly grasp the threat he was under, the excited girl launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck and hanging off of him.

"Are you Big Brother Levi? Are you here to stay with us? Will you be my friend?" The girl threw a million questions at him faster than he could process the fact that he now had an attachment clinging to him.

"Isabel! Don't jump on poor Levi; you probably scared the boy half to death," Her mother admonished, walking out and physically pulling Isabel away from Levi. She turned to Levi, looking at his shocked face apologetically, "I'm sorry, Levi. I told Isabel and my boy, Farlan about you and Isabel here has been very excited to meet you."

Levi pulled himself together, replying courteously, "It's okay. I've just never had a sibling before,"

The look she gave him was almost pitying but Levi looked away before he could see her expression.

"Now come in, come in. I'll treat you to some biscuits and tea,"

 

Once seated at a dining table, a cup of water (at Levi's request) and a couple of biscuit were set in front of Levi, the rest treating themselves to some tea. After some idle chatter about his interests and his schoolwork, a boy Levi assumed to be Farlan walked in.

"Ah, Farlan. Levi's here; come introduce yourself please,"

Farlan looked closely at Levi, noticing Dumbledore's presence beside him, and nodded amiably. 

"Hi, I'm Farlan."

"Farlan is the same age as you, Levi," His foster mother informed him. Levi nodded at her information, watching Farlan and seeing the boy watching him back. Before turning away, Farlan smirked at him light-heartedly and took off elsewhere. Meanwhile, Isabel had returned and her affection for Levi hadn't dulled any, coming up behind the boy and playing with his thin, ebony strands.

" _Isabel_. Leave Levi alone; you're annoying the poor boy," She lightly swatted at her daughter, who begrudgingly flitted off after smiling at Levi. At Dumbledore's chuckle, Levi grew self-conscious and tried to fix his hair into its usual position with a flustered haste. "Don't you worry, Levi. You can always tell Isabel to leave you alone if she annoys you,"

Levi was startled when his foster mother reached towards him and started to help him flatted his hair into its typical style. He had not received motherly affection since his mother was still alive and could not process at the moment the reemergence of maternal affection in his life. Levi flushed a little, a ducked his head, submitting to her ministrations in his hair.

"There, all tidy as before. If you like, I can show you where you can sleep?" Levi nodded, following his new mother while the dirty dishes were gathered. A look back at Dumbledore saw him sitting comfortable in the dining chair, humming to himself happily.

"This is your room, Levi. Our bedroom is just across the hall if you ever need us and the bathroom is just down the end of the hall." 

Levi's room was simple: plain blues and blacks spread across the furniture and the bedspread. A desk was there for any school work and there was an empty bookshelf for him to put any books and trinket on if he wished. While not as decadent as his room in Kenny's mansion, it was more homely and Levi liked it so much more.

"Thank you," Levi whispered, but she still heard him. Softly stroking his hair, she replied, "That's perfectly alright, Levi. You're a welcome change from my hyperactive daughter," A bright laugh as she walked the two of them back downstairs.

"Levi, its time for me to return. Do you wish to stay? I can have a change of clothes and overnight toiletries sent here," Dumbledore explained, standing in the entryway.

Levi turned to his foster parents and surveyed their house again as he decided.

"I would like to return to Hogwarts," At the disheartened look on his foster parents' faces, he hastened to clarify, "I would like to stay here over Christmas, though, if that's okay?"

"Of course, Levi. We'll look forward to seeing you again," His foster father replied, smiling warmly.

With that, Dumbledore and Levi departed, arriving back at the train station in front of Hogsmeade in moments. Levi and Dumbledore walked up to the castle together, Dumbledore mindlessly commenting about certain furnishings in their house or the taste of the biscuits. Once arriving inside the castle, the two went their separate ways, Levi grateful for Dumbledore's company on this trip.

Returning to his dorm, it was after lights-out and he saw that Eren was already asleep, limbs spread out and snoring away. Levi smiled at his friend's odd sleeping behavior and changed into his pajamas, climbing into his bed and tucking himself in. Exhausted after the nerve-wracking events of the day, Levi surprised himself by falling off the sleep quickly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long absence, guys. Here's a filler for you before I update with some further chapters.


End file.
